One of the world’s most famous former Basketball players has landed himself in hot water this week after it was revealed he owes a casino over £200,000.

While basketball star Charles Barkley is not averse to negative publicity there is something of a mystery about an alleged $400,000 debt he owes to the Wynn Las Vegas casino. The debt apparently goes back to October 2007 when he took delivery of four $100,000 chips during a night of heavy gambling.

Despite repeated attempts by the casino to guarantee repayment the debt still seems to be outstanding and has now been passed to the courts.

However the former Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets power forward recently announced on live TV that he had repaid the debt and had stopped gambling before it became a major problem for him.

Strangely, the casino and court officials claim that there has been no contact from Charles Barkley and the debt is still outstanding.

Speaking to American sports channel ESPN Barkley admitted that he’d lost “probably $10 million” to gambling over the years.

He said “My agent has really worked with me to try to get it where I can go and gamble and have fun, that's easier said than done. Do I have a gambling problem? Yeah, I do have a gambling problem but I don't consider it a problem because I can afford to gamble. It's just a stupid habit that I've got to get under control, because it's just not a good thing to be broke after all of these years.”

In a frank interview he added “I gamble too much, I gamble for too much money. And it's something I have to address ... I am addressing it, that would be the best way to explain it. I think the most difficult thing is to realize no matter how much I win it ain't a lot -- it's only a lot when I lose. And you always lose. I think it's fun, I think it's exciting. I'm gonna continue to do it but I have to get to a point where I don't try to break the casino 'cause you never can.'